Sam Smith (politician)


Samuel J. Smith was a member of the Washington House of Representatives and the Seattle City Council. He was the first African-American to serve as a Seattle city councilman.

Early life

Smith was born on July 23, 1922, in Gibsland, Louisiana to a Baptist minister. Smith served stateside in the U.S. Army during World War II; in 1942 he was stationed in Seattle, Washington and, on discharge, decided to stay there. He went on to receive degrees from Seattle University and the University of Washington and went to work for the Boeing Company.

Political career

In 1958, Smith defeated Republican Charles Stokes for a seat in the Washington House of Representatives representing Washington's 37th legislative district. Smith's victory over Stokes, the second African-American elected to the Washington legislature, made him just the third African-American to win a seat in the state house, as well as the first from the Democratic Party. One of his first acts in the legislature was to introduce a bill that would have banned discrimination based on race or religion in the rental or sale of homes. The measure eventually passed in his final term.
Smith was reelected to three additional terms, serving in the legislature until January 1967 when he left to seek a seat on the Seattle City Council, which he won. Smith continued to serve on the council until 1991 when he was defeated for reelection due, in part, to mobilization of Seattle's LGBT community, who were upset with some of his socially conservative positions.
Smith served as president of the city council for eight years and ran unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Seattle four times during his council tenure.

Personal life and death

Smith's wife, Marion King Smith, campaigned for Smith's former seat in the legislature in 1970, but was defeated by Republican Michael Ross. Smith would later attribute Ross' victory over his wife to a defection of Smith's traditional allies among the district's black leaders who were "afraid that the power in the black community was too centered on me. They knew I would be helping her make decisions, and they didn't want me to have that kind of reach."
Smith suffered from ill health in his later years and lost a leg to diabetes in 1985. He died at his home in the Seward Park neighborhood of Seattle on November 16, 1995 at the age of 73. A park in Seattle is named after him.